LONG TERM FUNCTIONAL ABILITY AND COSTS OF STROKE SUBTYPES.

中风是澳大利亚第三大常见死因，在老年人群中更为常见。由于中风风险最大的人群比其他人群增长得更快，未来几年中风的数量很可能会大幅增加。在中风后一年，大约三分之一的患者已经死亡，三分之一的患者仍然严重残疾，三分之一的患者恢复了轻度残疾。在澳大利亚，关于超过1年的结果的信息很少。据认为，在中风后5年，大约55%的患者将死亡，另外10%的患者将再次发生非致命性中风。据估计，中风每年给社区造成的损失超过10亿美元。人们对中风幸存者及其亲属的长期成本知之甚少。这些费用可能是巨大的，可能包括与住院、门诊、全科医生就诊、药物、艾滋病和社区服务相关的费用。还有可能是由亲戚和朋友提供大量的非正式护理(例如，购物和个人护理方面的帮助)。本研究的目的是评估中风患者的长期预后。这些指标将包括存活、中风复发和进行日常活动的能力。此外，我们的目标是确定卫生保健和社区资源的长期使用情况，以及患者、照顾者和社区所承担的费用。有关生存模式、中风复发和残疾的信息将为卫生服务规划提供非常有价值的信息。这些信息也将对患者、他们的家人和治疗这些患者的医务人员有用。有关中风费用的信息将提供有关澳大利亚中风患者长期医疗保健和社区资源使用模式的唯一信息。这些信息将对卫生服务规划有用。

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in Australia, and is more common in the older age groups. Because the population most at risk of developing stroke is growing faster than the rest of the population, it is likely that there will be a large increase in the number of strokes occurring in coming years. At 1 year after stroke about one-third of patients have died, a third remain severely disabled and a third recover with minimal disability. In Australia, there is little information on outcome beyond 1 year. It is thought that at 5 years after stroke about 55% of patients will die, and a further 10% will have another nonfatal stroke. Stroke is estimated to cost the community in excess of $1 billion a year. Little is known about the long-term costs of stroke to survivors and their relatives. These costs are likely to be substantial, and are likely to include costs related to hospitalisations, outpatient visits, general practitioner visits, medications, aids and community services. It is also likely that substantial informal care is provided by relatives and friends (e.g. assistance with shopping and personal care). The aim of this study is to assess the long-term outcome of patients with stroke. These will include measures of survival, stroke recurrence, and ability to perform usual daily activities. In addition, we aim to determine the long-term use of health care and community resources and the costs incurred by patients, their carers, and the community. Information on survival patterns, stroke recurrence and disability will provide information of great value for health service planning. Such information will also be useful to patients, their families, and medical staff who treat these patients. Information on the costs of stroke will provide the only information about the patterns of long-term health care and community resource use among stroke patients in Australia. This information will be useful for health service planning.